The Ecology of Riffle Beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae)
The Ecology of Riffle Beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae)
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甲虫的生态学（鞘翅目：Elmidae）
DOI：
10.1608/frj-1.2.4
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
J. M. Elliott
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. M. Elliott
摘要沟甲科的沟甲是自来水中无脊椎动物群落的常见成员。北美有超过80种，欧洲有46种;欧洲西部和北方边缘的数量减少，只有12种在英国，许多罕见，4种在爱尔兰，3种在挪威。本综述描述了它们的栖息地，食物和捕食者，它们的生活周期，它们的传播，以及人类对它们生存的威胁。所有的榆树物种都有水生幼虫，根据属的不同，有5到8个龄期。少数种类的成虫是陆生的，但大多数是水生的，具腹甲呼吸。大多数榆树物种出现在通风良好的溪流和河流中，但也有一些出现在波浪冲刷的湖岸。少数物种生活在更不寻常的栖息地，如热水池和温泉，地下栖息地和腐烂的木材。对成虫或幼虫的食物知之甚少，但它们似乎是采集者和刮削者，主要以藻类和碎屑为食。成虫和幼虫很少被无脊椎动物捕食者捕食，但被鱼类，特别是鲑鱼吃掉。然而，它们在食物中的比例总是低于底栖生物，表明鱼类的可用性低。为了获得对生命周期的定量描述，需要关于每个龄期的幼虫数量、产卵时间、产卵数量、化蛹时间和成虫数量的信息。很少有研究符合这些标准。然而，来自北美的三项出色的研究和对四种最常见的英国物种的详细研究说明了不同物种生命周期的差异。生命表，确定生存的关键时期，提供了英国的物种，这些是唯一的这样的表目前可用于riffle甲虫。通过飞行扩散的能力在物种之间和同一物种的个体之间是不同的。成虫和幼虫在无脊椎动物漂流中向下游扩散，尤其是在夜间。在一项研究中，不同生命阶段的漂流密度与其在底栖生物中的月损失量呈正相关，但与其底栖生物密度无关。关于它们在基底上的上下游运动的资料较少。有个体发育的转变，昼夜漂移周期和扩散，都涉及到季节性变化的漂移密度和生存的生命周期的关键时期。人类对海蛞蝓生存的威胁包括氧气浓度的降低、水温的升高、极端的水流，特别是喷涌，以及污染，特别是肥皂和洗涤剂。因此，浅滩甲虫提供了水质和气候变化的极好指标。
Abstract Riffle beetles in the family Elmidae are frequent members of the invertebrate community of running water. Over 80 species have been recorded in North America and 46 in Europe; this number decreases in the western and northern fringes of Europe with only 12 species in Britain, many rare, four in Ireland and three in Norway. The present review describes their habitat, food and predators, their life cycles, their dispersal, and human threats to their survival. All elmid species have aquatic larvae with five to eight instars, depending on the genus. Adults of a few species are terrestrial, but most are aquatic with plastron respiration. Most elmid species occur in well-aerated streams and rivers, but some also occur on wave-washed lake shores. A few species live in more unusual habitats, such as thermal pools and hot springs, subterranean habitats, and decaying wood. Little is known about the food of adults or larvae, but they appear to be collector-gatherers and scrapers that feed chiefly on algae and detritus. Adults and larvae are rarely taken by invertebrate predators, but are eaten by fish, especially salmonids. However, their proportion in the diet is always lower than that in the benthos, indicating low availability to the fish. To obtain a quantitative description of the life cycle, information is required on the number of larvae in each instar, the timing of oviposition, the number of eggs laid, the timing of pupation, and the number of adults. Few studies meet these criteria. However, three excellent studies from North America and a detailed study of the four commonest British species illustrate the variation in the life cycles of different species. Life tables, identifying critical periods for survival, are provided for the British species, these being the only such tables currently available for riffle beetles. The ability to disperse by flight varies among species and among individuals of the same species. Adults and larvae disperse downstream in the invertebrate drift, especially at night. In one study, drift densities of different life stages were related positively to their monthly losses in the benthos, but not to their benthic densities. Less information is available on their upstream-downstream movements on the substratum. There are ontogenetic shifts in diel drift periodicity and dispersal, and both relate to seasonal changes in drift density and critical periods for survival in the life cycle. Human threats to the survival of elmids include reduced oxygen concentrations, elevation of water temperature, extremes of flow, especially spates, and pollution, especially by soaps and detergents. Therefore, riffle beetles provide excellent indicators of water quality and perhaps also climate change.